


Slowly Learning (That Life is Okay)

by NoCashValue5



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Alternate Universe, Clarinet, Gen, Making Friends, Music, Oboe, Trumpet, Voice, band kids, four swords secret santa 2020, fsss2020, gee i wonder what song inspired this story, highschoolers, nerds, ok green is a choir kid, percussion, they're all nerds, this is my first time doing fsss so im sORRY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28084110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoCashValue5/pseuds/NoCashValue5
Summary: Vio and his brothers made it to state music ensembles. They'll be gone in a day or two.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Slowly Learning (That Life is Okay)

**Author's Note:**

> This was for the Four Swords Secret Santa 2020 exchange! https://abearthegreat.tumblr.com/ was my secret santa assignment!
> 
> Thanks to the two band/choir nerds who helped me polish this into something respectable. As they usually do. When they feel like it. Ugh.

Vio's breath fogged the window he'd been using as a pillow. Next to him, Red was passed out against Vio's shoulder. Vaguely, Vio registered some jealousy. At least Red got something nice to sleep against.

The brothers had woken up at five to be at school by six, then be on the road by six thirty. That meant Vio hadn't been awake until just now, an hour down the road.

The sun was up, but it was a cloudy winter morning. 

Filling out the far-back seat of the school's Expedition was Blue on Red's other side. He'd been awake this whole time, playing on his Switch. Oh, how he'd crowed at Vio and Green when they warned him it might get stolen. According to him, it was a 'day or two of nothing but band and free time', and he was bringing it with him. End of story.

Shaking his head, Vio sat up, careful not to disturb Red. His legs felt cramped. He'd put his backpack and oboe down at his feet, and now he didn't have any leg room. Maybe he could just... very quietly put something in the back... No, his left arm was pinned down by Red, and his right arm wasn't at a good angle to throw something behind him.

Blue glanced over. He must've seen Vio moving around. They made groggy eye contact.

“Finally waking up?” Blue's voice was flat and sarcastic and a little too loud.

Vio was dimly aware that Blue was the first one to speak since the car ride started. Before answering, Vio glanced at the rest of the car. Elne was passed out like Red in the middle row, her tuba looming next to her. Up front was their band director and Elne's mother, who had come along as a volunteer assistant.

Yep, these were the four honor band kids representing their school. Quite a lively bunch.

“Hello?” Blue reached over and swatted Vio's knee. “Awake or not?”

“I'm up. Quiet down, Red and Elne are still asleep.”

Red stirred against Vio, and Vio shot Blue a warning glare. Shrugging, Blue shoved his earbuds in and went back to whatever he was playing. But he did shut up.

It was too late for Red, though. He picked his head up, eyes fluttering. Vio took the opportunity to move his stiff arm around Red's shoulders.

“Are we there yet?” Red whispered.

“Not quite. Ready for state band?”

Red smiled and nodded. He was the only one out of the brothers who hadn't made it in before (Green was in the honor choir). It had nearly crushed Vio last year, seeing Red beat himself up over 'not practicing enough'. Vio knew he would never admit it, but Red was nervous.

Their dad had been so proud when the quadruplets learned all four of them would be going.

“He'll be fine,” Blue assured. “Band's better anyway. Think about Green, he's packed in the choir van. I bet they're singing along to the radio. Nerds.”

Vio snorted, and silence settled over the car again. Stretching down, he took his oboe into his lap. It was a fragile thing, and he was always nervous to travel with it. He opened the case and spent some time picking through it, making sure everything was as it should be.

Being an accomplished oboist, Vio knew (in the humblest of ways) that he was often a shoe-in for these honor bands. Not every school had an oboe player, so the pickings were pretty slim, and he happened to be rather dedicated to the instrument. For that reason, he fully expected to see the same oboists again this year.

While he rarely thought about those other oboists any other time of the year, he appreciated their musicianship, even if their company was debatable. The flutes and clarinets around him were likely to be different, though, and therefore all wildcards.

As the travelers slowly woke up, Vio found himself becoming impatient to arrive.

–

“Make way, fifth chair trumpet coming through!”

Playing the largest instrument out of the four brothers (although Green insisted that voice was an instrument, and Red only needed to carry his drumsticks), Blue often became a battering ram in musical crowds like these.

“Be nice, Blue!” Red clutched his sticks to his chest, trying very hard to stay out of the way.

“I got it!”

Rushing up from behind them, Elne steered her wheeled tuba case through the crowd, creating a rift and tossing a competitive grin back at Blue. He ran after her, yelling something incomprehensible.

Vio followed, keeping his oboe close to his body. He had nightmares of the time the case opened on its own, dumping everything out.

Thanks to Elne and Blue, the band kids found themselves spilling out of the hallway and into the huge room set aside for their rehearsals.

Letting the brass players get ahead of them, Vio and Red eased up. Red was astonished at the size of the room.

“It must be a thousand feet to the ceiling!”

“Much better than the band room at school, right?” Vio chuckled.

“Oh, for sure! Look at all this space!”

Red had a point. The hundred-piece band was dwarfed by the size of the room. Unlike the district honor band, which was held at a school for one day, the state honor band was held at a convention center over three days.

Vio elbowed Red. “They treat us well once we get to this level.”

“I'll say!”

With a gentle shove toward the percussion section, Red was off. Despite the sticks he clutched, Vio knew he'd find his way onto the auxiliary percussion. He loved all those weird little noisemakers.

Vio began picking his way into the center of the group. It never failed, the oboes were situated in some hard-to-get-to place in the band. It made going to the bathroom during rehearsal difficult. Thankfully, someone had made good use of the room's great space. For once, there was plenty of room between the rows for music stands and people.

“Hello, Violet!”

Picking his head up, Vio saw one oboist had beat him to their section.

“Zelda!” That was her name, right?

“First chair again, huh?”

Grabbing his nametag from his seat, Vio sat next to Zelda, the second chair oboist from last year.

“I was very happy to see you'd be sitting by me again. You're an excellent player.”

Vio made a dismissive gesture, getting himself organized. He slid his nametag over his music stand.

“You're really something, Violet. Honestly.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it. And please, call me Vio.”

The blat of a trumpet shot over the band. Vio wondered if it was his brother. The rest of the band was slowly gathering, flutes and clarinets filing in around the oboes.

“Are you excited for this year? Isn't it your last?” Zelda asked.

“Well, myself and my three brothers all made it into state ensembles this year. I was glad we could all—”

“Oh, that's fantastic!” Zelda gushed. “I remember you said you had a brother in band with us last year. What do the others play?”

“Blue plays trumpet, Green sings, Red's percussion.”

Zelda laughed, tickled by the colorful names. “This is why I didn't forget you!”

Vio chuckled with her, wondering if that was the only reason she remembered him.

The unmistakable sound of sheet music splattering all over the floor crashed in the row behind Vio. A wave of pages hit his ankles. As he bent to pick them up, a cranky voice snapped at itself.

“Here,” Vio said, turning around. Zelda offered a few pages as well.

It was a dark-haired boy, clutching a clarinet, an exasperated sneer on his face. He was helplessly looking at the rest of the music at his feet, apparently unable to free up his arms enough to deal with it.

“Just—! Put it back on the floor, I'll— I'll deal with it myself!”

The stress in the other boy was insurmountable, Vio could sense it.

“Hey, it's alright. Everyone drops their music. Here.” He stood up, putting his oboe on his chair (only to have Zelda help herself to holding it). She offered the music she held, which Vio ambiently took. “I'll help you.”

The other boy complained, but Vio pushed himself into the third row anyway. Bending around music stands, he started gathering the fallen music.

“What makes you so nice, huh?” The other boy had an edge to his voice that apparently didn't go away. “Can't you just leave me alone?”

“Woah...” Vio tried to calm him down. “It's just music. Here, I think this is all of it.”

He snatched the music away, fumbling to stuff it back in his folder. “Yeah, yeah, you oboes think you know everything. Just— lemme find my seat.”

Despite his concern, Vio figured it was best he stepped away. Returning to his seat, he caught Zelda's confused look and decided to match it. He was very aware that the other boy sat a few chairs away in the third row. A discreet glance told Vio that the boy wasn't inclined to put his nametag over his stand, despite the director's instructions.

Rehearsal began a little later than scheduled, but that didn't bother Vio. All through practice, his mind kept going back to that boy behind him. Why was he so upset? Vio understood the irritation with district honor band— it was a whirlwind of a day— but at state, there was breathing time. They had a day or two.

When they broke for a quick fifteen, Zelda invited herself to come meet Blue and Red. Whatever they talked about, Vio didn't remember. He only saw that moody clarinetist sitting off by himself.

–

“Vio's got a girlfriend!”

“Hey now, that's something!”

For supper, the honor band kids met up with the honor choir kids at a 50's-themed burger joint. It had become a traditional place to eat on the yearly jaunt to state. They looked forward to it every year.

Vio leaned in, giving Green an apologetic look. “She's just the second chair oboe from last year. Her name is Zelda, and she was happy to see I'd returned.”

“Sounds good enough for me!” Green cheered. “Heck, I don't think I've even seen anyone from last year yet. Aside from our people, I guess.”

Unimpressed, Vio twitched an eyebrow and picked at his basket of fries. Hopefully they'd get over it before long.

“How's the percussion section?” Green asked.

“Oh, just great!” Red squeaked. “The other percussionists are really good, I'm not sure how I got in, but we all know what we're doing! They're making me play drumset on that one swing song, but I think I can handle it. My section leader said that percussion unites us— and, well, I guess he said that we're better than everyone else, but I just can't bring myself to agree with him.”

Blue laughed. “You've been in band for how long? And you haven't learned that the trumpets are the real top notch players?”

Green and Vio rolled their eyes. Blue and Red locked into their old argument.

“Rivalry between the sections is only healthy!”

“But how are we supposed to work together if we all think we're the best?”

Glances from around the restaurant were being aimed at Blue and Red, especially from the other two tables of people from their school. Thankfully, the music playing over the radio was fairly loud.

Turning to each other, Green and Vio chose to ignore their brothers.

“Remind me what songs the choir is singing.”

“Oh, something in Latin, there's a patriotic piece. And the typical weird jazzy song that makes us clap.”

Vio snorted.

“So, is this whole thing living up to what you remember?”

“Mostly... I ran into someone odd before rehearsal started,” Vio said, reflecting on the incident. “This clarinet player acted like he'd rather be anywhere else on the planet. But getting here takes dedication and work. I could understand being bored at the district level, but...”

Green smiled. “Not everyone's like you, Vi. You got first chair on oboe, I mean, c'mon.”

“But he's good! I mean, he has to be, getting here. I just...” Vio sat back in his chair. “I just don't get it. If he doesn't care, then why be here? Why bring down your whole section like that?”

“You're starting to sound like those two.” Green tossed his head at Blue and Red.

“But Blue!” Red was saying. “If we're all trying to battle each other, then the group loses cohesion!”

“What's cohesion mean?”

“Like... uh... Vio?”

Before Vio could answer, Blue interrupted with some big gesture, which ended with his fork falling to the floor. He got up, griping about having to get a new one, and Red immediately chased after him, not about to let the conversation drop until he understood Blue's position.

Vio snickered. “An ensemble has to work together, one way or another. And somehow, they're both right.”

“So... you just gonna let this clarinet ruin your whole weekend?”

“Well, that would be a waste.”

“I think you should talk to him!”

Frowning, Vio considered his brother. “Me? He made it quite clear that he dislikes me.”

“C'mon, Vio!” Green reached across the table to affectionately punch Vio's shoulder. “If I know you, it's just gonna eat at you all weekend and spoil the whole thing. And we've all been looking forward to this. Weren't you the one who kept telling us to just—“

“'Relax and have fun because it's a unique experience', I know.” Vio smiled, remembering how he'd tried to get his brothers on the same page. Red just became more nervous, and Blue only talked about how he'd fight his way to first chair if the other trumpets let him.

“Exactly,” Green smiled. “A unique experience. Even for that guy. Look, we'll be gone soon, just talk to him or you'll gripe about it for weeks.”

Blue and Red were returning, dodging tables and chairs. They were still yakking away, but it seemed like they'd moved on to a different subject.

“Vio!” Red said, slamming back into his chair, nearly dumping his half-eaten dinner on the floor in the process. “Blue says if you eat a reed, a bamboo shoot will grow in your stomach! Is that true?”

“And how much do you think Blue knows about reeds?” Vio was unimpressed. Were they really talking about this right now?

Green was laughing. By the look on Blue's face, he clearly thought he knew something.

“But it's a plant, right? And if you put a plant in water, it'll grow roots or something...”

Humored, Vio played along with their ridiculous assumptions. For the moment, he forgot about the clarinetist.

–

The four brothers dragged each other out of their hotel room the next morning, swung through breakfast, and soon found themselves back at the convention center. Green was off for choir practice, and the other three settled back into their sections.

Vio had chosen to take Green's advice. If that clarinet player was going to make Vio's weekend worse, Vio would just have to do something about it. Even if he knew full well the fitful nature of friendships forged at school functions such as this.

“Good morning, Violet! Er, Vio!” Zelda settled into her seat. “Sleep well?”

“Not too bad,” Vio said, a little reluctant to answer her to her probing, but ultimately too polite not to. “My brother kept tossing and turning, but once I got to sleep I was fine.”

“Which brother?” Zelda giggled.

“Red, the percussionist. He's... trying not to be nervous. Anyway, are you excited to visit the exhibition floor today?”

“Oh, yes! Last year, I saw a curved soprano saxophone, and I brought a reed this year so I can play it if they happen to have it again!”

“You play saxophone?”

Zelda beamed. “In jazz band. I really love it. Are you in jazz band?”

Vio got his hands in his sheet music, organizing it for the day. “Ah, no, I'm not.” He decided not to explain that his school lacked such an ensemble.

“Oh, that's too bad!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Vio saw a dark figure slide behind him. Twisting, he confirmed his suspicions.

“Our friend from yesterday,” Zelda quietly noted.

The clarinetist settled into his seat with much less issue than the day before, but he still seemed generally irritated. Before he could catch Vio watching, Vio turned away to fish a reed out of his water cup.

“He seems like such a grouch,” Zelda pouted. “Clarinets, I swear...”

Vio thought about what she said while he warmed his instrument up. At first blush, it seemed like his reed was going to cooperate today. Zelda took a moment to do the same thing.

“I dunno. Maybe he's not so bad. I think I'll talk to him later.”

It was pretty clear that Zelda wasn't sure what to say to that. She gave Vio a vague smile before carefully putting her reed to her lips and starting a rough passage from one of their songs. Glad to be free of conversation, Vio dug out the piece with the oboe solo and needlessly worked through that again.

Soon, the whole band blossomed with music. It was a weird clash that Vio often took for granted— everyone playing something different, and yet sounding warm and welcoming. For a moment, he stopped playing and just listened. He could absolutely hear that clarinet behind him.

Today, before it was too late, he'd figure out that boy's name.

–

“Vio!”

Red was upon him as soon as they broke for lunch. Vio hadn't even made it to his pile of belongings yet.

“Think Zelda wants to join us for lunch?”

Vio rolled his eyes, handing Red his music folder. “I suppose she can join us, but I did have other plans for the next few hours.”

“Like what?”

Just like every year, each school's students piled their things next to each other. Heaps of backpacks and instrument cases littered the giant room, all spaced roughly evenly apart. Vio knelt at the section of the pile where he'd left his things, starting to put away his oboe.

“I'm much more interested in the exhibits.”

“You always talk about those! I mean, I'm sure they're cool, but Vio I'm starving!”

“Red.” Vio looked up at him, reaching for his music. “We have a very generous three hours until we rehearse again. Even if I didn't eat lunch, that's not near enough time for me to enjoy the exhibit hall. No matter who eats with us, I will be eating quickly before heading off to do my own thing.”

Red seemed a little taken back at this. He handed Vio his music, but observed a wary silence. Feeling bad, Vio took the music and smiled.

“I only get so many chances to do this, Red. I can eat lunch any old day. But seeing prototypes of new instruments? Trying synthetic reeds? Perusing new sheet music?” He cocked an eyebrow at his brother, and Red finally smiled back.

“Sure. I'll join you as soon as I'm done eating.”

Not quite true to his word, Vio grabbed one of the catered lunches from some nearby sub chain and briefly sat down to eat with his brothers. Zelda found her way to their group, ecstatic that they were all identical. Green was delighted to meet her (somehow that didn't surprise Vio) and occupied a lot of her conversational energy. Elne even found them, dragging a few tuba friends with her. By the time Vio had flown through his lunch, he was almost reluctant to leave the group. But he crunched his last potato chip, wiped his hands on his napkin, and promptly excused himself.

From the previous year Vio remembered that the convention center had an odd layout, sort of maze-like, filled with lots of convenient passageways made inaccessible by locked doors. Not to mention, the crowds of people were annoying to weave through.

But, eventually, he found his way to the exhibit floor.

There it was, just like he remembered. A room just as big as the band's rehearsal space, except lined with booths and booths of different companies, all very interested in selling something.

But Vio was just some highschooler, and Vio knew that made him a target for free odds-and-ends and trying new instruments.

Within five minutes, he was trying his best to play a bass flute. Then he visited a display of entirely plastic instruments. Over there was a somewhat haunting display of jewelry made from broken woodwind keys. Oh, and there were some kids playing a saxophone with a euphonium mouthpiece!

All around him, a weird cloud of noise hung. One part human conversation, one part 'I've never played this instrument before'. Vio had his phone out, constantly taking pictures and videos—

Whirling around a corner, Vio spotted him. The clarinetist.

Why was he getting cold feet?

For a moment, Vio hid within the merchandise of a booth selling music education supplies. The clarinetist was hovering around Selmer's booth, which prickled with different woodwinds, but wasn't talking to anyone. He was protectively gripping his own clarinet.

He had to remember what Green had told him. There simply wasn't a lot of time. Vio briefly glanced around for anyone he knew, then took his chance.

“Hello.”

The other boy jumped and spun around at Vio's greeting. His eyes searched Vio's face for any reason they might know each other, and then fell into a familiar frown.

“What?”

“My name is Vio, I'm the oboist who sits in front of you. Well, kinda.”

There was an awkward pause. Vio's heart was racing. Why was he doing this?

“Yeah? So?”

“I just th— thought I'd introduce myself. I, um... What's your name?”

Unreasonable amounts of distrust crossed the clarinetist's face. He rolled the instrument in his hands, and something clattered unnaturally.

Vio looked down at the clarinet. “What was that?”

“None of your business.” He brought the clarinet to his chest, shifting his grip on it in the process.

A tiny sliver of metal clinked to the floor.

Mute shock crossed the other boy's face. Was he about to cry?

Feeling there was no other course of action, Vio knelt down and picked up what had fallen. It was some key from his instrument. It appeared to be whole, just... not attached. A tiny screw had also fallen with it.

“Give it back!”

“Woah, hey,” Vio soothed. “I have some tools back in the band room. I think I can help you.”

The fire in the panicked boy's eyes seemed to cool, just a little. He nodded.

Without another word, Vio led the boy (whose name he really needed to learn) all the way back through the convention center to the band room. It was an arduous journey. Along the way, they passed huge windows looking out into the city. It was still overcast, but not a flake of snow was in sight. Vio was, for some bizarre reason, desperate to not be seen by his brothers, and the windows made him feel exposed.

Unfortunately, Blue was finished with lunch, cooling his heels in their pile of things. 

“Wait!” The other boy suddenly spoke up, catching up with Vio. “You have a twin?”

“I'm a quadruplet, actually,” Vio tried to breeze past this tired old point. “My other two brothers are around here too. We all look the same. Just a heads up.”

Blue looked up at them as they approached, setting his Switch aside and yanking out his earbuds. “Who's this?”

“He, uh—“ Vio realized the other boy was still nameless to him. “I'm helping him fix his instrument. Oh, uh, but, I think Red wanted you for something.”

“What's he want?”

“Red?” The other boy mumbled to himself.

“He... lost. Something. I don't know, he's probably in the exhibit hall.”

The look Blue gave him was one of apathy and sloth, but then he twitched an eyebrow.

“A-ha...” Blue hefted himself to his feet. “Have fun doing... whatever.”

Blue was absolutely going to mention this to everyone else, but Vio wanted at least six seconds to try and make headway with this kid. He sat down with his backpack and began digging through it.

“Your name is Vio, you have a brother named Red— What, are you all colors or something?”

With a sigh, Vio explained. “That brother was Blue. My other one is Green. Just—“

“Well I've got it no better.”

Vio frowned. “What?”

“Shadow. I'm— that's my name, it's Shadow.”

Fascinated, Vio was speechless. Another soul forever cursed into explaining his own name at every introduction?

With a soft smile, Vio reached for the clarinet, and Shadow (somewhat reluctantly) handed it off. Ever since dropping his oboe, Vio had been inclined to learn some field medicine for repairing his instrument, and since oboes and clarinets were woefully similar, he just might...

“There,” Vio said with a final twist of his screwdriver. “It just had a screw loose. I think it's all back together now. Here, try it out.”

Shadow greedily took back his instrument, tapping at the offending key. For the first time, a smile cracked through his face.

“My banana key!”

“Wh— Your banana key?” Vio laughed.

“Y— Yeah, see, look, it looks like a banana.”

“I've never heard that before!”

Shadow flashed a shy grin and continued to inspect his horn. Soon, he wicked off the mouthpiece cover and fluttered through the range of his instrument, finding nothing amiss. Vio'd always thought clarinets had a slippery quality to their sound, and Shadow's notes slip-slided around the grand room like soap in a sink. The handful of people hanging around in hidden pockets of the room picked up their heads at the noise, but ultimately went back to their own business.

“You're very good,” Vio quietly complimented.

Seeming to remember he wasn't alone, Shadow flicked his eyes back to Vio. “I'm... I'm like twenty-second chair...”

“But you're here.”

Shadow shrugged, sitting on the floor with Vio. “I'm the only one from my school here.”

“No way?”

“Yeah. It's been... boring. I wish I could go home every night, but I live like two hours away.”

“Well, you're better off than us!” Vio sparkled. “We had a five hour drive!”

“Five hours?!”

Vio sat there and chatted with Shadow, who was blossoming into something of a nice guy. In his heart, Vio knew he was missing out on the exhibit hall, since it wouldn't be open the next day, but after all he'd gone through most of it before running into Shadow. It wasn't like he had much money on him. No, this quiet conversation was... a perfectly acceptable alternative.

–

“Alright, Vio.”

Blue and Green squeezed Vio between their shoulders as they wandered to the back of the restaurant. Tonight, their director had chosen to bring the kids to a Mexican place instead of their more typical choice in venue. Vio thought it was a welcome change, but at least a few of his friends were inwardly peeved about the choice.

However, Vio had a more pressing issue to deal with at the moment.

He wiggled out from between his brothers, grabbing Red and using him as a human shield.

“What now?” Vio complained.

Blue had a dangerous sort of smirk, and Green just looked excited.

“Blue told me you made a friend today!”

“Come on! Can't I make friends without your supervision?”

Red squirmed away and found a seat at the table. Again, several tables had been reserved for their school, and everyone split up as they had the night before. A table for the quadruplets, a table of six or so band and choir kids, and a table for the adults involved. Dimly, Vio wondered if they should be mingling a little better.

Vio slid into a seat next to Red, and Blue and Green sat across from them. There were still two empty chairs at their table.

“Look, Vio, you made me leave and didn't even introduce me.” Blue was making a case for his suspicions. “First Zelda, now this guy—“

“Just because you three can't seem to make friends outside our school doesn't mean I need to be berated—“

“Who are we talking about?”

Red had finally entered the conversation. He looked like he needed a nap.

Green was beginning to act more mature about the whole thing. “Vio wanted to cheer up this clarinetist that sits behind him, and I guess that happened?”

Answering the glanced tossed his way, Vio decided to explain himself. “His instrument broke. Well, not really broke, but a key fell off it while I was talking to him. My guess is that's why he was so grumpy. Anyway, I was able to fix it for him, and we talked for a while. Happy now, Blue?”

Blue turned up his nose in sort of knowing sniff, but seemed willing to drop the matter.

“You fixed it, Vio?” Red seemed impressed.

“Sure. I just had to screw something back in.”

Blue and Green both snorted, and Vio shot them a look.

“Wow, that's so nice of you!” Red was oblivious.

A waiter came and began getting their drink orders. While they all figured out what to drink, Vio found himself falling inward about his whole afternoon with Shadow. Sure, he'd fixed the horn and talked to the guy for a while, but he had to remember how volatile these things could be. It wasn't like he'd gotten to know Shadow super well. For all he knew, the next time they saw each other, they could be back to being strangers.

“Vio?”

“Oh, um, iced tea is fine.” Vio started fishing out a few packets of sugar from the little catchall on the table.

The brothers lapsed into a quieter spell, with Green and Red talking about something unrelated to the whole weekend. Blue got on his phone, only to be interrupted by Elne getting his attention from the other table. With Green and Red occupied and Blue twisted around in his chair, Vio turned his attention to the rest of the restaurant.

It was fairly lively, since half the town was eating supper. He spotted a few other groups that seemed to be related to state music, but didn't exactly recognize anyone. But, wait—

There he was. Shadow had just walked in, and that must be his director— no, his parents with him.

Should he get up and greet them? Would Shadow notice him? But, then again, was it worth the...

Too late. Shadow saw him.

Was this luck or not?

Vio tried to shy away, but he and Shadow shared a weird, hopeless staring contest until Shadow followed his parents out of sight.

Making the 'bathroom' excuse, Vio got up and fled to the restroom, hoping Shadow was on the same wavelength. He waited there until it felt like his spine was on fire, then scurried away, trying not to feel dumb for not accurately reading someone else's mind.

“We ordered you a quesadilla,” Blue mentioned as Vio slid back in his seat. The drinks had come.

Dumping sugar packets into his tea, Vio tried to figure out what to do. Should he hike across the restaurant and butt in to another family's dinner? Should he forget about it and instead be concerned for the type of quesadilla he was now destined to eat? Probably, knowing his brothers.

Then, he saw him. Shadow was picking his way to their table. He was coming for Vio.

Quickly composing himself, Vio decided now was not the time to dance around the subject. “My clarinetist friend will be joining us shortly.”

Blue flicked his eyes up from his phone. Green sort of frowned and smiled at the same time.

“What's his name?” Red asked.

“He's here?” Green seemed confused.

“Shadow. Yeah, he just showed up with his parents. Look,” Vio leaned in, “he's the only kid from his school who made it in. He said he's been really bored. Can you guys just— be nice?”

Red smiled and nodded. Green gave a discreet thumbs-up. Blue just shrugged.

Shadow arrived, awkwardly stopping at the end of their table. Vio felt a little bad, knowing his friend was on the business end of four identical faces, one of which was someone he knew. Vio kicked himself. He could fix this easily.

“Hi, Shadow.” Vio waved.

“Uh...” Shadow looked like he was trying to place Blue next. “D... Mind if I...”

Vio pulled out the chair to his left. “We'd love to have you join us.”

Relieved, Shadow slipped into the seat. Introductions were made, and Red was immediately interested in Vio's repair job.

“Vio said he fixed up your horn!”

“Yeah,” Shadow chuckled. “It had been freaking me out for weeks. Turns out it was just a dumb little screw.”

“Nothing like the first time I put a valve in wrong. My trumpet wouldn't blow at all.”

“I,” Green made a dramatic gesture, “don't have those problems.”

A cacophony of complaints, as well as a stray napkin and straw wrapper, showered down on Green, leaving him the giggling epicenter.

Red leaned across Vio. “Hey, can you play 'Rhapsody in Blue'?”

With a huff, Shadow almost didn't answer the question, but eased up a bit. “I've, um, been working on it recently. My director wants me in jazz band, but I'm not so sure...”

“We don't have one at our school,” Blue said. “But I wish we did. So much mind-blowing trumpet music, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie...”

Blue trailed off, noticing that Shadow's eyes were glazing over, and Vio was glaring at him. He cleared his throat.

“But, uh, Benny Goodman's really good too. 'Sing Sing Sing' still holds up, for sure.”

Cracking a smile, Shadow nodded. “You know a lot about jazz.”

“That's what I've been trying to tell people...!”

Blue launched into some long-winded tangent about trying to start a jazz ensemble for the past year, one that his brothers had heard all too often. But Shadow seemed to be invested, and that was all Vio could really hope for.

–

Dinner wrapped up nicely. Somehow, Shadow got along well with Vio's brothers for the whole evening. Red in particular was reluctant to say goodbye, but when it was time to pack up, it was time to pack up. Vio helped Shadow find his parents again, only to get started with another conversation. Blue had to come find Vio and drag him away from his new friend.

Back at the hotel, Red was the first to declare his exhaustion.

“I dunno how you guys do this! I'm beat, I'm going to bed.”

Green laughed, and Blue was clearly preparing to fight for use of the bathroom. Ready for some time to decompress, Vio eased onto his side of the bed, pulling out the book he'd been reading. Red was puttering around on the other side.

“I liked your friend, Vio,” he noted, pulling out his pajamas.

Vio sighed. “I just felt bad for him. Shy guy all alone at state band.”

“You're funny, Vi,” Red snorted. “You really think a lot of this whole thing.”

“I just... Gosh, Red.” Vio let his hands fall into his lap. “I just hope I'm not doing too much. Going too far out of my way to make someone else have a good experience.”

“Well...” Red mulled this over before breaking into one of his brilliant smiles. “If I were him, I'd really appreciate your kindness! I mean, in this case, it's no better to be safe than sorry! It'll all be over by tomorrow night, so it's not like—”

Blue suddenly shut himself in the bathroom.

“Blue!” Red complained, galloping over to bang on the door a bit. “I gotta brush my teeth and everything!”

Exhaustion was catching up with Vio as well, but he underestimated it. Between the cozy book, the soft bed, and the comfort of having his brothers around, Vio fell asleep with his book in his hand before the lights went out.

–

It was about this time of the weekend that Vio felt strange.

The morning of the final day, one last rehearsal was squeezed in for an hour or so, then everyone was told when, where, and how to show up for the concert that afternoon.

It was this weird limbo period between rehearsal and concert that made him feel rushed, bored, and sick all at the same time.

Maybe it was the anticipation of being gone, knowing it would all be over soon.

What was he supposed to do for four hours? The exhibit hall was being broken down (he'd checked), he hardly wanted to find a place to practice his oboe, he'd arrived in his stiff concert attire—

Thankfully, it wasn't time to move that pile of stuff in the practice room.

Vio sat curled against the wall, sitting on his coat to keep his pants free from floor debris. Elne's massive tuba case was to his left, and his backpack and oboe were to his right. Further to his left, Blue was, once again, playing his Switch, and Vio was actually jealous of it for the first time. At least Blue had something to occupy his time. Green was busy with his separate vocal schedule, but where was Red? Where was Shadow?

Picking up his well-wrinkled schedule of the weekend, Vio decided it was useless to him at this point, so he wadded it up and threw it at Blue.

“What?” he said, pulling out an earbud.

“Where is everyone?”

“Who?”

“Red. Elne, Zelda, anyone we know.”

“What about that Shadow guy?”

It seemed like a taunt at first, but Vio realized Blue meant it genuinely.

“I... How would I know?”

“Well, beats me. Bored or something?”

“Yeah.”

“Sucks for you.”

Vio shouldn't've expected anything more.

“I'm going for a walk,” Vio declared.

“Have fun.”

Still trying to suppress that bubbly sick feeling, Vio wound his way to an upper level and found a giant window to look through. It was snowing— bright, huge snowflakes. Up until now, the weather hadn't shown much sign of the season, but some big snowstorm blew in overnight.

Introspective. That's what Vio was feeling. The snow was making him introspective.

“Hey.”

Vio glanced to his side. It was Shadow, looking very spiffy.

“Hello, Shadow.”

“Some snow, huh?” Shadow stood next to him, watching the blinding whiteness outside.

“I don't think this was in the forecast.”

They stood in a strange silence, a silence that wanted to be comfortable but couldn't settle down. People walked by, the wind punched at the windows. A million things went through Vio's head as things he could say, but none of them were satisfactory. There was a truth here, and he might as well get to it.

“I, um... Vio, I wanted to tell you something...”

Or maybe Shadow would get to it first.

“Hm?”

“Well... I just wanted to say thank you... For... for being friendly to me... I know I was kinda rude to you at first, but, um... I'm sorry...”

A smile curled onto Vio's lips.

“I understand why you said what you did. Your horn, being here alone...”

Shadow huffed. “I was having a bad day.”

“It's perfectly alright.”

The silence threatened to settle in again, but Vio chose to keep it at bay.

“There's... a fickle nature about making friends on school trips...”

Shadow turned to him, confused.

“I just mean... Even if we never speak again, I'm glad I got to meet you.”

“Oh. Oh, I see...”

Distantly, a trumpet squalled. Somehow, Vio got the feeling it was Blue. With an eyeroll, he turned to Shadow.

“I think I'm due to corral my brother. Care to join me?”

Laughing, Shadow followed Vio back to the rehearsal room.

Red was back, and he was beating on various drums. Blue was with him, flubbing around on his trumpet. It seemed like they were trying to play a song.

“Vio! Shadow!” Red waved them over.

Neither Shadow or Vio were terribly comfortable in the percussion section, so they both tried to stay away from all the hooks and screws and toggles and rods that could catch on one's clothing.

“When did you get back?” Vio asked.

“Blue texted me, said he was bored, so I thought we'd try to play something together. We haven't had much luck!”

Shadow moved to poke at the snare Red was using. Suspicious, Vio glared at Blue.

“Sucks to be bored, huh Blue?”

“Can it.” He brought his horn to his lips and actually played something coherent.

“What's that? It's familiar.”

“'Take On Me'. From pep band.” Blue continued playing.

“Oh, right.” Vio played flute in pep band, and because of that he didn't like the instrument very much.

Red made a happy noise and scooted over to the drumset. Once situated, he began to play along with Blue.

And from across the room, someone started shouting the lyrics at them.

“TALKING AWAY!”

Green, dressed in his choir attire, ran up to join their little ensemble.

“Where did you come from?!” Vio asked.

“Just got out of rehearsal. Now come on Vio, this song needs me!” He cleared his throat. “Taaaaaaaaaaake ooooooooooooon meeeeeeeeee....!”

Finding a good place to stand, Green graced their impromptu session with his vocals. Distracted by his brothers, Vio had forgotten about Shadow. He pushed his way over to the snare drum.

“Welcome to my family,” Vio grunted, trying to be overtly sarcastic.

But Shadow was smiling.

–

Post-concert, everything was rushed. It was late, and they still had a five hour drive ahead of them.

The next week of school would be painful, even for Vio.

Everyone scattered after the concert was over, but Zelda still squeezed in a goodbye as they tried to get offstage. However, this made Vio completely lose track of Shadow, who managed to get off stage and completely dissolve into the crowds of people.

Now post-concert, Vio didn't bother to kneel on his coat. His pants could get as dusty as they pleased. Kneeling before his case, Vio flung it open, intending to dig around for his swab. 

“C'mon, Vio! How long does it take to put away an oboe!”

“Blue, be nice!” Red berated. “Let me know if you need help, Vi.”

“VIO!”

Bleary, Vio twisted around, oboe odds-and-ends in each hand.

Shadow ran up to him, panting. His clarinet was nowhere to be found.

“I... I j...” He tried to catch his breath. “Sorry...”

Brain heavy, Vio stood up and hugged Shadow.

“Vio, come on,” Blue complained. “We gotta get going.”

Rolling his eyes, Vio backed away from Shadow. The other boy seemed almost humbled.

“I'm glad you came,” Vio said. “Even with your instrument being broken and nobody else from your school...”

“For Pete's sake—“ Blue marched forward and took the oboe out of Vio's hands to put away himself. Vio didn't mind, Blue knew more or less how to put it away.

“Thanks, I, uh... It definitely wouldn't've been the same without you...”

Vio yawned, rubbing an eye and nodding. “Hey, um... let me put you in my phone.”

“Uh... I don't have one...”

“Oh...”

Helpless, Shadow shrugged. “I know, I'm that kid, I guess... I'm sorry...”

A coat flung over Vio's shoulder, and he struggled to catch it.

“We're going, Vio!” Blue nearly yelled.

Acute panic set in. Vio turned around, seeing that indeed everyone except Red was starting to leave. Red was holding Vio's backpack, giving him a look somewhere between encouraging and pleading. Whirling back to Shadow (who looked just as panicked), he saw the other boy's parents making their way across the room.

“Shadow— Shadow, I guess I gotta—“

A sad smile fractured across Shadow's face. “Yeah, no problem... I, I won't be here next year, so don't—”

“Me too, I'm a senior—“

“I'm sorry, Vi!” Red grabbed Vio's arm and began to pull.

–

State band was a distant memory by the time Vio stepped into his first college band rehearsal. But the preceding weekend had been a similar whirlwind of activity. He wasn't ready to dissect that yet, and the familiar setting would calm his churning mind and stomach.

There were plenty of people here already. He wasn't first chair oboe anymore, but that didn't bother him. Maybe next year, he joked to himself.

Red, Green, and Blue had all chosen different schools, different career paths. None of them were more than a few hours away, but it left Vio feeling both alone and free. There wasn't much on campus that he could really say he knew. It had been a nearly overwhelming experience, even for someone like Vio. Especially for someone like Vio.

Before Vio could even sit in his seat, a gripe came from the row behind him.

“Stupid music stand!”

Which was closely followed by frantic grabbing to keep music from flinging onto the floor. The music stand itself clanged and clattered as it refused to cooperate.

That... That voice...

Vio turned to hold the offending stand still. The other boy didn't look at him right away, but, needless to say, Vio was sure it was him. 

There was a lot to think about in that fleeting second-and-a-half. Vio somehow wasn't surprised to find him again, but they hadn't talked in months. Could they pick up where they left off? Was this even the same Shadow?

Oh, what did he have to worry about?

“Hello, Shadow.”


End file.
